Newsletter – July 2025
This is our newsletter for July 2025. Please note that this page is not updated, so deadlines may have passed and links may no longer work. To receive future newsletters, please join our network.
News
Survey update
This week you will receive an email sent on behalf of the AFN Network+ from a research company called Grounded Research. They are conducting a short survey to help us explore the future of the Network, as our UKRI funding comes to an end.
The survey will help us understand what you value most about the Network and whether a subscription model would be financially sustainable, or if you have other ideas about how we could secure future funding. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete. The email will come from the email address hello@groundedresearch.co.uk. Please check your junk or spam folder if you don’t see it in your inbox.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill in the survey, and we look forward to reading your responses.
We are grateful to all of you who filled out our EDI survey last month. If you haven’t yet given us your thoughts you can still complete the survey.
Comment on our draft Roadmap report
A reminder that we have produced a full draft of the AFN Roadmap report that we will be publishing in October. We would like to give you the opportunity to comment on the draft before we finalise it for publication. You can read the draft report and give us your comments. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment so far.
Please submit any comments by noon on Tuesday, 8 July 2025.
DIGEST: 10 leaders in sustainable food answer questions on what’s holding change back
Planeatry Alliance has recently published a report asking leading thinkers and doers in sustainable food for their knowledge and insights. The leaders identified 15 barriers that interconnect to resist change, and you can read more about these barriers in this digest written by our Knowledge Exchange Fellow, Jez Fredenburgh. If those are the barriers, what are the solutions? You can head to Part 3, page 16 of Planeatry’s report to find out, or wait for the second part of our digest, coming soon.
Inspiring a food system transformation – what can we learn from WW2?
You can now read a briefing of this webinar on what we can learn from WW2 to inspire a food system transformation. A sense of agency and ambition can be derived from studying past transitions. In this webinar, Prof Neil Ward explored the characteristics of the last agri-food revolution and asked what can be learnt and applied to our current juncture.
Read the briefing or watch the webinar.
Micro businesses could secure new agroecological farm
A micro dairy, free range broilers, wildflower seed and an education venue have been put forward as viable options to secure the future of a new agroecological farm. Propagate and partners are developing the Lochhill Agroecology Demonstration Farm, part of the Regenerative Farming Network, in Galloway, South West Scotland. They were awarded an AFN Network+ FlexFund grant to develop the project further.
POST note on regenerative agriculture
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has published a POSTnote which describes regenerative agriculture, the evidence for beneficial outcomes, and outlines the challenges and opportunities for its wider adoption. Many AFN members contributed to the document, among them the Scoping Study team of Lisa Morgans, Kat Watson, Karen Rial Lovera and Emmanuel Zuza, from the Royal Agricultural University, who were able to contribute findings from the workshop they held in February.
News from the wider agri-food sector
Funding
Innovate UK: Up to £2 million for farming, growing and forestry businesses
Innovate UK has launched the full ADOPT grant: round two. Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for a share of up to £2 million for on-farm trial and demonstration projects, to improve adoption of new ideas or solutions in the agricultural sector. Businesses that apply must collaborate with at least one other farming business in the UK.
Deadline: 20 August 2025
OECD Cooperative Research Programme (CRP) on Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems
The OECD’s Co-operative Research Programme: Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems (CRP) exists to strengthen scientific knowledge and provide relevant scientific information and advice that will inform future policy decisions related to the sustainability of agriculture, food, fisheries and forests. Its International Event Sponsorship and Individual Travel Fellowship Awards are now open. Applications are welcomed from anyone interested in organising an event (conference, workshop or symposium) on state-of-the-art research issues in agriculture, food, fisheries or forests or who would like to spend time working with researchers in another country.
Deadline to apply: 10 September 2025
Events
Food Thinkers: Informing and supporting the UK Government’s national roll out and implementation of the new school breakfast club programme in England
Wednesday, 2nd July 2025, 9:30– 10:45am
In this webinar, Prof Greta Defeyter will present the learning outcomes from a series of co-designed workshops involving key stakeholders and teaching staff who deliver school breakfast clubs, as well as parents and pupils. The aim of these co-designed workshops was to co-produce a new programme framework that informs planning, implementation, and delivery of DfE’s new school breakfast programme.
Groundswell
2–3 July 2025, Lannock Farm, Hertfordshire
If you are heading to Groundswell this week, come and see us in our tent at C26, where we running a busy schedule of events.
Generation Regeneration at Ty Mawr Farm
10–11 July 2025, Monmouthshire
A two-day event for young people exploring access to land, sustainable farming, regenerative thinking, and being a new entrant, including how farm tenancies work, how to apply, and how to plan a business effectively. Hear from industry experts and take part in shaping the future of Ty Mawr to test your approach to securing and managing a tenancy.
Webinar: Alternative proteins and better food futures: moving beyond the binaries
Monday 14th July 4:00-5:30pm
In partnership with the United Nations Foundation and Food Standards Agency, TABLE has organised a series of three webinars exploring key themes and debates around novel alternative proteins (e.g., cell-cultivated meat, new-fermentation derived proteins). This final webinar centres on the environmental debates surrounding alternative proteins.
Bridging Fields: Engaging farmers in research
Thursday 17th July 2025, 1:00-3:00pm
An interactive workshop sharing approaches and top tips for maximising farmer engagement and participation in collaborative research projects.
Field Trip: The Apricot Centre & Martin Crawford’s Forest Garden
Saturday 19th July 2025, Totnes, Devon
Organised by Emergent Generation, a visit to two pioneering projects in regenerative practice – the Apricot Centre’s biodynamic farm and Martin Crawford’s Forest Garden.
ORFC in the Field at Hill Top Farm: Livestock and Biodiversity in the Yorkshire Dales
23–24 July 2025, Yorkshire Dales
Sustainable Livestock Residential
8–10 August 2025, Kendal, Cumbria
Agroforestry Show 2025
10–11 September 2025, Maple Cross, Hertfordshire
Vacancies
Short deadline: MACC Hub – Short-term research contracts
The Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change Hub is advertising four, short-term research contracts (four months) as part of its Policy Response Unit, which aims to provide the evidence the UK government requires to advance adaptation policy. The four research briefs include
- Trade-offs and co-benefits for on-farm climate adaptation choices; and
- Policies to address food system vulnerabilities to climate change in the UK.
Deadline: 4 July 2025
TABLE advisory board
TABLE is a food systems platform that explores the evidence, assumptions and values that people bring to debates about resilient and sustainable food futures. They are now recruiting an advisory board. The board consists of between 6 and 8 individuals from academia, civil society, business, the grant-making community, the media and partner universities.
Deadline: 10 July 2025
Modeller, Cool Farm Alliance
Cool Farm Alliance is looking for a full-time modeller. The role will focus on developing livestock models of GHG flows across agricultural systems using the latest peer-reviewed evidence, open source and procured data. These models will support the Alliance’s work in building a scientifically credible and robust GHG calculator.
Deadline: 17 July 2025
